Lefty Specialist Josh Edgin Brings Relief

NY Mets pitcher Josh Edgin came into 2017 hoping to re-establish himself as a reliable Major League reliever. The Mets originally selected the left-handed Edgin in the 30th round of the 2010 MLB Draft, 902nd overall. But he underwent Tommy John surgery in March of 2015 and didn’t rejoin the major league club until August 2016.
The team re-signed him for $675K last winter. So far this season the 30-year-old has done a good job. He excels at pitching with runners on base, holding opponents to a .233 average. In May alone, he was used in 16 games, pitching over 13 innings allowing 9 hits, 3 runs, 4 walks, 9 strikeouts, 1 homerun, 2.03 ERA, .191/.296/.319.

Josh Edgin Pitches

The key to Edgin’s success is keeping the ball down, in the lower half of the zone. He has three primary pitches. He throws a 91 mph four seam fastball with natural sink. A curve that gets swings and misses. And a slider that generates ground balls. Here’s an interactive chart of his pitch selection breakdown this season:

Edgin averages over 7 inches of vertical movement on his four seam fastball. Here is a chart showing the vertical movement of his fastball against lefties this season:
For his career, Josh has generated more than a 43GB%. You can see the high percentage of ground balls that he has generated this season in this spray chart:

If the Mets become sellers at the trade deadline then Josh Edgin could be a trade chip to a contending team in need of a left-handed reliever.

If you enjoyed this article then please share it by clicking one of the buttons below.Photo by slgckgc